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Families whose relatives buried in graves at risk from coastal erosion argue that a lack of decision over how to tackle the problem is causing them avoidable anguish about the final resting places of their loved ones.

An Impending Threat to Ancient Graveyards

The council have identified three burial grounds in the communities of Happisburgh, Trimingham, and Mundesley as being in danger of being consumed by the ocean in the coming decades.

A newly published study on the situation sets out a series of possible actions, from doing nothing to disinterring bodies and reburying them in more secure locations. Authorities maintain it is for the community to determine how to move forward.

“Right now we’re in limbo. It upsets me. They intended this to be their last home, but it won't be because of the sea.”

Estimates suggest at least part of one graveyard could be claimed by the sea in the next 80 years, but some residents fear it will happen far earlier. “I think it’s got less than 20 years, if you consider what’s happened in the last 30 years,” a farmer stated.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Eccles

A local business owner recalled a childhood visit to the neighbouring village of Eccles, which has largely disappeared into the water, including its church and graveyard.

“You could see people’s bones,” she said. “Certain people hold this idealized notion that people’s remains will just get washed out to the ocean. They won’t. People will take bones as souvenirs and go grave robbing looking for treasures. It’s completely undignified.”

“I’m worried that the same thing that befell at Eccles will happen at Happisburgh and there’ll be skeletons on the beach. I would feel disgusted by that.”

A Paratrooper's Resting Place in Jeopardy

Further up the coast lies the grave of a ex-soldier killed while serving abroad. His mother said she could not sleep after discovering her child's final plot might one day be moved.

“It does trouble me to think this won’t be his permanent home,” she said. “To our family it’s an significant place to go.”

In her view, new burials should cease but says it is too soon to exhume existing graves. “My preference for now is to take no action and closely monitor, but an timely resolution needs to be made when a critical moment has been reached.”

Seeking Solutions and Clarity

An absence of agreement over the timing and method to tackle the challenge has left grieving relatives feeling exasperated and anxious.

Some want more coastal protections to slow the unavoidable loss and to permit funerals to continue for now. Others argue the moment for moving graves is drawing near.

“It is very emotive,” a family member stated. “The official study was really good, but now there’s uncertainty about how it is implemented. And all parties is washing their hands over who is responsible.”

A local official confirmed the graveyards were under the care of the local diocese. “Ultimately it is up to them to choose the direction to take. Our role is here to help support them through that journey with residents.”

It was also stated there was time to consider all the choices. “We are talking decades before it begins getting lost.”

“Currently, there exists no unified opinion on what should be done yet. We need good community discussions to discover the right answers for each community.”

The possibility of losing the churches and graveyards was labeled one of “profound sadness for the local community,” but church representatives also referenced a doctrine in life after death, providing a theological viewpoint on the temporal disappearance of hallowed earth.